Weft-replenishing mechanism for looms.



No. 733,884. PATENTBD JULY 14, 1903. E. A. THISSELL. WEFT RBPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOO'MS.

APP LIOATION FILED APR. 7, 1902.

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PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

E. A. THISSELL. WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 7, 1902.

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NVENTOR 6M9 @ZZQ WITNESSES. 52/ M N6. 733,884. PATEN' IED. JULY 14, 1903.

E. A. THISSBLL.

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1902.

6 8HBETS8HEET 3- N0 MODEL.

No. 733,884. PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

E. A. THISSELLL WBPT RBPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

'APPLIOATIOH FILED APR. 7. 1902.

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No. 733,884. PATENTED JULY 14, 1903. B. A. THISSELL.

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1902.

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UNITED STATES Patented July 14, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

EARL A. THISSELL, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,884, dated July 14, 1903.

Application filed April .7, 1902.

To (tZZ whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, EARL A. THISSELL, a citizen of the United States, residing in Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Weft- Replenishing Mechanisms for Looms, of which the following is a specification- This invention relates to weft-replenishing mechanisms for looms.

In another application, Serial No. 61,351, filed May 22, 1901, and now pending I have shown, in connection with a rotary shuttlechanger carried by the lay and forming with a binder a shuttle-box, a stationary magazine from which a shuttle is allowed to fall as required, guides between the magazine and shuttle-changer to receive'the falling shuttle, and means for crowding ashuttle after it leaves the magazine through said guide into the shuttle-changer.

In the present invention I have so arranged the magazine that its lower or discharging end swings with the lay and is always over the shuttle-changer and allows the lowermost shuttle in the magazine to fall by its own weight directly into the shuttle changer whenever the uppermost compartment of said shuttle-changer passes in under said magazine, and I dispense with all guides between said magazine and said shuttle-changer and with all positive means of crowding said shuttle into said changer.

By the construction herein set forth I am also enabled to dispense with any contrivance aside from the shuttle-changer for retaining shuttles in the magazine, the stack of shuttles in the magazine resting upon and being prevented from escaping by the shuttle in the uppermost compartment-of the shuttlechanger. I have also provided means of supporting the magazine in such a manner that while its lower end moves with the lay the movement of the top of said magazine is so slight as not to render it at all difficult to fill the magazine while the lay is in motion. I have also shown a relief designed to prevent the operation of the shuttle-changing mechanisms except when the binder is thrown forward by a shuttle entering the box.

In the accompanying drawings on six sheets, Figure 1 is a side elevation of so much of a Serial No. 101,620. on man.)

pawl on the line 3 3 in Fig. 3*, said section being on a plane at right angles to the pivot of the pawl; Fig. 4, a front elevation of the I empty magazine and shuttle-box; Fig. 4, a plan of the magazine containing shuttles and of the upper supporting means of said maga-' zine; Fig. 5, a side elevation of the shuttlechanging lever and its operating-cam and the clutch which connects the cam-shaft and cam; Fig. 6, a side elevation of said cam and clutch, the positionot' the cam being thereverse of that shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a vertical transverse section on the line 7 7 in Fig. 6 Fig. 8, a horizontal transverse section on the line 8 Sin Fig.6.

The frame A, arch a, lay B, lay-beam h, crank-shaft 0, having a crank 0 connected by a link 0 to the lay B, the picker-stick E, the picking-strap e, the binder-spring d, and the shuttle-box port or mouth-d are of any usual construction and operation and are used in connection with the usual harness, let-off and filling-stop motions, and with theclothtake-up devices commonly used in broad looms for weaving plain cloth or ginghams.

The magazine F, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and at, is a case having aback f, which to save weight may be of wood, and ends ff the front edges of which are turned toward each other in such a manner that the ends of the case will loosely hold shuttles G, of ordinary construction, stacked therein from lateral or endwise movement, the filled shuttles, being piled on each other in the magazine with the bottoms of the shuttles in front and the delivery sidesof the shuttles on top. The lower end of the magazine is hinged to the lay and partakes of the motion of said lay. The lower end of the magazine has rigidly secured to its sides,

Figs. 1 to 4, knuckle-plates f f through the lower ends f f of which pintlesf f are driven horizontally into stands f f which may be integral with or secured, as by bolts, to the stands i 11, in which the shaft I of the shuttle-changer M is supported, as hereinafter described, said last-named stands being secured to the back of the lay-beam b and the knuckle-plates and stands f f forming hinges.

To the hack of the magagine F, near the top of the same, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and flis secured another knuckle-platef, which is connected by a link f to abracket or stand f rigidly secured on the arch a, said link being pivoted to said knuckle-plates at f f in a usual and obvious manner. When the lay is farthest from the breast-beam a, the link stands at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the vertical; but as the lay swings forward the upper end of the link is drawn forward and downward slightly, but without any considerable movement in a forward direction, the upper end of the link passing through an arc of about forty degrees. It will be understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the exact positions of the link herein given or to the amount of its movement. By this means of supporting the magazine itis possible to place shuttles in the top of the magazine while the loom is running without special skill or attention and without previous practice. The shuttles pass through the magazine and are discharged therefrom by their own gravity solely. Any rotary shuttlechanger which can be supplied by shuttles falling singly into the compartments thereof may be used.

l have shown the shuttle-changer M, described in said previous application, the same consisting of a hub m and two or more, preferably four, wings m The faces m of the hub are equal in number to the wings and are plain surfaces arranged parallel with the axis of the hub and are adapted to support the back of the shuttle. The wings m are so arranged on the hub m (which is square in cross-section) at the corners of the hub as to form between each wing and the next a shuttle-receiving channel, the wing in advance having a surface 0% at right angles to the adjacent face m of the hub, which furnishes a bearing for the bottom of the shuttle, and the top of the shuttle on both sides of its bobbin-chamber resting against the surface at and the outer portion of the following wing.

The shuttle-changer M is free to turn upon a shaft I, which is supported in the standsz't', above mentioned. The pawl-lever P turns on the shaft I at the inner end of the shuttlechanger M and is concave on its upper side to avoid contact with the lower rear corner or edge of the shuttle and is convex on its lower edge to support earspp between which the pawl is pivoted, the pivot 12 being arranged at right angles to the shaft 1. The free end or head 1) of the pawl 17 engages thesurface on and is preferably shaped to fit in the angle made by this surface m and the adjacent face m of the hub of shuttle-changer. The pawl is so pivoted that its weight will naturally throw its free end into engagement with the shuttle-changer; but for greater safety I use a spiral springp, which throws said free end toward said changer and yields to allow said pawl to ride over the wing in the return movement of said pawl-lever. The free end of the pawl-lever P is connected by the rod or link Q to a lever R, pivoted at '1 back of and below the crank-shaft O, the weight of said lever R when unsupported being sufficient to swing said pawl-lever backward to engage a new notch in the shuttle-changer.

The front end of the lever R is provided with a lateral projection 'r, normally resting on a shoulder t on the lower arm 25 of the lever T, fast on the stop-motion rock-shaft U, the upper arm t of said lever T extending upward and engaging the stop-motion slide V. The stop-motion fork 'u is fulcrumed on the slide V and tilted by the filling-thread in the usual manner and has on its front end the usual hook v, which in the absence of the filling engages the hammer w of the lever W, the latter being oscillated at every other forward swing of the lay by a wiper 00, fast on the cam-shaft X, raising the rear end of said lever W in the usual manner, so that in the absence of the filling the shaft U is rocked and draws the shoulder '15 out from under the projection 'r' and allows the lever B to fall and engage a new notch of the shuttlechanger. The further revolution of the camshaft X causes another cam Y to lift the lever R and turn the shuttle-changer an angular distance represented by a notch or ratchettooth, causing the shuttle in the shuttle-box-- that is, the shuttle which is between the binder and the hub of the shuttle-changer-- to be crowded downward out of the box by the wing m immediately above it, While the next following wing puts in a new shuttle.

One of the wings of the shuttle-changer forms the top of the shuttle-box, and a face m of the hub of said changer forms the back of the shnttle-box, the front of the shuttlebox being formed by the binder J like that shown in said previous application and differing from binders in common use only in being provided on its upper edge with a finger j, curved upward and backward, to prevent the shuttle being thrown by the shuttlechanger over the top of the binder, and in being provided at its lower edge with a back.

wardly-extending horizontal ledge 3' which with the surface m, above referred to, form the shuttle-race or bottom of the shuttle-box. The binder is pivoted on the binder-study, is directed horizontally by the binder-guide j, and is closed by the binder-spring (Z, all in the usual manner. When a shuttle is entirely out of the shuttle-box, the changer cannot be rotated without causing one of the wings m tostrike on the binder, thereby breaking the wing or the binder or some connected part, and when a shuttle is partly out.

of and partly in the box such shuttle would be broken by therotation of the changer.

To prevent the rotation of the changer in either case, I connect the cam Y to the camshaft X in such a manner that while under ordinary resistance said cam will turn with said shaft to raise the lever B, yet if the rotation of the shuttle-changer is obstructed by the binder or by a partially-boxed shuttle said cam Y will slip on said shaft and not raise said lever, and therefore not turn the shuttle-changer. Said cam Y is loose on the shaft X and)is provided with a fiangey. (See Figs. 5 to 8.

A collar Z is fast on the cam-shaft X and has pivoted thereto or to a projection z, with which said vcollar is provided, an arm 2', adapted to swing at right angles to said camshaft, and a spring a is arranged to throw the free end .2 of said arm outward against the inner surface of said flange y and to ex-- ert sufficient friction on a part of said flange normally to rotate said cam Y with said shaft X, said outer end 2 extending laterally within said flange, and said spring a being represented as a helical wire springz one end of which bears against the projection a, while the other end is fastened to the spindle a of the arm .2, which spindle turns freely in said projection z and is surrounded by said spring outside of said projection, the tendency of said spring to unwind holding the end a of said arm against said flange.

The flange y of the cam Y is represented as having two parts y 3 each concentric with the shaft X, the part y having a less radius than the part if, and along these parts the outer end .2 of the arm z slides without diificulty. Two other parts 3 Marc represented as about parallel with'each other and as connecting the ends of the parts W. The essential feature in the shape of said flange, however, is the angle 1 where the end .2 of the arm 2' runs from the part g onto the part g and suddenly meets greater resistance to its progress by the rapidly-decreasing radius of the flange. At this angle the friction between the flange and arm is so great that the cam will revolve with the shaft against ordinary resistance; but when the raising of the lever B is abnormally obstructed by reason of either of the accidents above referred to the arm will slip past the angle 3 and the cam will yield at each revolution of the camshaft until the obstruction is removed.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of a lay, a shuttlechanger rotary on said lay, a stud secured vertically to said lay, a binder swinging on said stud, said changer and binder together forming a shuttle-box, and a magazine adapted to hold a stack of shuttles and attached at its lower end to said lay and adapted to discharge directly into said changer.

2. The combination of a lay, a rotary shuttle-changer carried thereby, a magazine, pivotedat its lower end to said lay and adapted to hold a stack of shuttles and to discharge said shuttles singly into said changer as said changer rotates, and a stationary support, to which said magazine is connected above the lower end to reduce the movement of the up-fl 4. The combination of a loom-frame, a lay,

a rotary shuttle-changer carried by said lay, a magazine pivoted at its lower end to said lay and arranged to discharge immediately into said changer, and a link jointed to and connecting said frame and said magazine above the lower end of said magazine.

'5. Thecombination of alooin-frame, a lay, a rotary shuttle-changer and a binder carried by said lay, said changer and binder together forming a shuttle-box, a magazine pivoted at its lower end to said lay and arranged to discharge immediately into said changer, and a link jointed to and connecting said frame and said magazine above the lower end of said magazine.

6. The combination of a rotary shuttlechanger, provided with a ratchet, a pawl, a rod operating said pawl, a cam-shaft and means for actuating said rod by the rotation of said shaft, said means comprising a cam normally rotary with said shaft but adapted to yield to an abnormal resistance.

7. The combination of a cam-shaft, a cam, normally rotary with said shaft and yieldingly connected therewith, a lever raised by said cam, a rotary shuttle-changer, means for rotating said changer by the rising of said lever, and a latch, normally engaging said lever and holding the same in a raised position.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my sig- 7 nature in presence of two witnesses.

EARL A. THISSELL. Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, JOHN F. FOSS. 

